One of several children intoxicated by Mercury in day care has seizures!

Seven weeks after the mercury-contaminated Kiddie Kollege day-care center closed, a 5-year-old Franklin Township girl still has seizures, unexplained rashes, mysterious illnesses and peeling skin on her fingers and toes, which her attorney says are linked to inhaling the toxic metal.

The girl is among at least a dozen Kiddie Kollege children who still have elevated levels of mercury in their bodies, according to results of a second round of medical tests that were released in recent days to parents.

Several parents and their attorneys said the new tests are alarming because experts had expected the levels of mercury in the bodies of children who spent time in the former Gloucester County thermometer factory would drop over time.

"When the Health Department contacted me this time, they actually acted a little concerned," said Tina Toy, whose 2-year-old daughter, Savannah, attended Kiddie Kollege for more than a year. Toy said the state worker "had a heavy heart" in his conversation with her.

Kiddie Kollege shut July 28 after state Department of Environmental Protection workers discovered it had been operating in the bankrupt thermometer factory - one of New Jersey's known toxic sites - for two years.

The state attorney general has launched a criminal probe into how the day-care center was allowed to open and other state officials are conducting a widening probe into whether more day-care centers are imperiled by the state's 17,000 known contaminated sites.

Last month, the state Department of Health and Senior Services tested 60 Kiddie Kollege students for mercury exposure and reported that 20 had elevated but acceptable levels of mercury. State health officials said the mercury levels should drop as the children stay away from mercury exposure.

The children were tested again this month. The state Department of Health and Senior Services would not disclose the results to The Inquirer.

Parents said the second round of tests were not encouraging. More than half the children had levels above the normal range, according to interviews with parents and their attorneys.

"What we're seeing is what we suspected before the test came back - the mercury is not leaving their systems quickly enough and they're the cases where you see the symptoms persisting," said Christopher Manganello, a Pitman lawyer who represents the 5-year-old girl with seizures and 17 other Kiddie Kollege children.

The girl's mercury level dropped slightly, he said. Still, the mercury level in that girl and in nine other children he represents remain above normal.

Bridgeton lawyer Kevin McCann said he represents two other children whose mercury levels exceed normal, including Dillon Widdifield, 5, who has the highest mercury level of any of the Kiddie Kollege children.

"They are very distraught," he said of Dillon's parents.

The children who still have elevated levels will be retested again in about a month. Their homes also will be tested, to see whether mercury may have been brought home in their bookbags, sleeping bags or other articles.

The parents and their attorneys have asked state and federal health officials to expand the testing to include children who weren't attending Kiddie Kollege at the time it was closed. They also have asked that testing for all the children continue for decades or more.

"These kids need testing and the employees need testing for the rest of their lives. It's just the right thing to do," said Manganello.

Tom Slater, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services, confirmed that parents have been told the results for their own children. He said said he didn't know why the state wouldn't publicly release the total result of the second tests.